Lesson 2 - Research

Codes and conventions of magazine contents pages.

We looked at three magazine contents pages to help us decide what the typical codes and convention are. We discovered that most magazine contents pages contain:

• a letter from the editor and their photograpgh.
• the date of publish
• the masthead but slightly smaller
• break down of the magazine - the page numbers
• contain between 7 - 8 images (but they are not always of people)
• graphics are used to make points stand out for example block colours behind text
• images use direct address and are purposfully placed in a specific area on the page
• the colour scheme used is the same as on the front cover
• there are contact details included which are usually placed at the bottom of the page
• some of the photos have the page number next to it representing the corresponding articles

Also most contents pages are organized into columns which makes them more clear for the audience. Sometimes the page is organised so one part of the contents pages covers two columns.

We also found that magazines are to help the reader find the articles and to show what is inside the magazine.

Also the contents page is organized into sections and then those sections are organised into the correct page numbers.